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Early Review: Volatile Bonds by Jaye Wells (Prospero’s War #4)

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Volatile Bonds by Jaye Wells (Prospero's War #4) // VBCVolatile Bonds (Prospero’s War #4)
Jaye Wells
Published: Sept. 12, 2017 (Jaye Wells)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it may reference previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Dirty Magic.

It’s been slow going for the Magic Enforcement Agency in Babylon. There’s pressure coming down from the top to get more cases closed, more arrests made. So, when Detective Kate Prospero and Special Agent Drew Morales are called out to a house explosion, they know things are only going to get worse from there when they encounter a dead body and loads and loads of dirty potions. When the potions are linked to a possible new coven in town, Kate and Morales will have to confront some very deep buried secrets in order to get the job done.

To say I was super excited when I heard about this fourth book in the series, is putting it mildly. Prospero’s War has been one of my favorites and now after two excruciatingly long years we’ve finally got another installment.

I picked up Volatile Bonds and was able to get right back into the goings on in Babylon. I was really happy with the way Jaye Wells seamlessly weaves background information from the first three books into this one.

In the previous books, I’ve really felt like everything was coming down on Kate’s shoulders, like she just couldn’t catch a break and, honestly, she didn’t handle some situations in the best way (i.e. the way she deals with her younger brother Danny). In Volatile Bonds, however, I felt like the tables were turned. Kate seems to have found her footing and she’s better about thinking things through before just jumping in with decisions. In fact, it was almost everyone else around her that was having the troubling times this go around. So much so that it was almost too much.

Her relationship with Morales is a good example. The new threat in town has apparent ties to a case Morales worked in LA years ago. A case that had some terrible personal repercussions for Morales that he’s not ready to share with anyone. It puts a strain not only on their personal relationship (what other secrets could he be keeping from her?), but also in their professional relationship in that it forces Kate to step up when it becomes apparent that Morales is out to protect his own ass in some instances than solve the case. I really like them together, and I wish there was more personal development for them in the book, but I think that was a deliberate choice on Jaye Wells part, and I’m interested to see where their relationship moves from here.

Of course on the other side of that relationship we have the undeniable connection between Kate and Mayor John Volos. Theirs has been a supremely interesting relationship due not only to the fact that they’ve got history between them, but because he’s such a shady character, at least we’re made to believe he is. I haven’t gotten a steady beat on him yet, and I don’t think Kate has either which makes their interactions ones I look forward to.

I figured out the mystery aspect of the story pretty easily. I was a little disappointed that Kate and Morales didn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together as quickly as I did because I thought it was pretty apparent who was behind the mess this time around.

Regardless, I was so excited to be back on the streets of Babylon on a case with Kate. I hope we won’t have to wait another two years for another book, either way, if this is what we’re waiting for, it doesn’t disappoint.

Sexual content: references to sex

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